stories of a Town – Gilbert, Arizona

Monthly Archives: May 2012

If you visit Gilbert, there are a variety of unique things to do, places to see and restaurants to visit. As part of our Economic Development Strategic Initiative, our commitment to develop a strong economy to sustain our quality of life long into the future, we have partnered with local businesses and have launched a new website, www.visitgilbert.net.

If you have friends and family who are planning to visit Gilbert or if you’re looking for new ways to entertain your family for the weekend, I encourage you to visit and share this website.

Gilbert is regularly recognized nationally, and we were recently honored as a best suburb to visit. There is good reason for that, including our regional sporting venues like Polar Ice and Big League Dreams and our cultural amenities including the Higley Center for the Performing Arts and the Hale Center Theatre.

Our downtown is growing as an attraction with new shops and restaurants and our outdoor mall is a great place to spend the day with family. Our parks also get national attention, including the Riparian Preserve at Water Ranch and our regionally popular Cosmo Dog Park.

Our medical industry is also an important draw as people come from across the state and country to our community to find the best health care for their families.

We are also fortunate to have four hotels for guests to stay at and a visitor’s center located right off the Loop 202 freeway, within easy access of Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport. I encourage you to bookmark and share www.visitgilbert.net.

Recent tragic events challenged our community at its core as we learned of the unspeakable loss of life as a result of last week’s shooting. As a community, we met that challenge. Within hours of the news, our community members were opening up their arms to support our neighbors, some of whom they had never met, to help those struggling to heal. They offered free counseling, fundraisers, and simply stood in support with candles in hand, in hopes of eliminating some of the pain. That is the Gilbert we know and the Gilbert we remain today.

To those who were close to the family, I share my condolences and encourage you to accept any assistance offered your way. Gilbert is a community where I want you to continue to feel safe and secure.

If you did not have a chance to attend our Community Meeting, I encourage you to visit our Web page, where you can hear from our Mayor and the Gilbert Police Department. Their goal is to continue to keep us safe and reassure us during a tragic time in our history. The page is also a great place to go to find fundraisers where you can continue to help the families. I encourage anyone hosting a fundraiser to send us the information (publicinformation@gilbertaz.gov) so we can help spread the word and offer opportunities for those looking to help.

Just days before these events took place, our community held a candlelight vigil to honor three fallen public safety heroes. Our officers work hard every day to keep us safe. I also want to take a moment to thank our public safety workers who are focused and highly skilled, and care about each and every one of us. You can join me in paying tribute to those who did sacrifice their lives for our safety in this video of the April 30 vigil.

Ultimately, we need to allow our community’s strong character to help those who need to heal and to overshadow this trying time.